GREELEY — For those who follow Northern Colorado football, progress isn’t measured by victories. Rather, it’s how bad the Bears lose.
The atmosphere got worse Saturday. Before dark clouds and a disappointed homecoming crowd, the Bears lost their 15th consecutive game 23-0 to Weber State, the one team they thought they could beat.
The Bears (0-7, 0-3 Big Sky Conference), playing for just the second time at home this season, remained scoreless at Nottingham Field. They lost 31-0 to Division II Chadron (Neb.) State at home on Sept. 8.
“This one, probably the most of all, is hard to digest because it’s homecoming and we got shut out,” said UNC senior quarterback Dominic Breazeale, who was 11-of-26 passing for 92 yards. “It’s a depressing thing, man. You go out and have high hopes for winning the game, and to not score any points at all in a (home) game is the worst thing that can happen to you in a football season.”
UNC was only 4-of-15 on third downs, punted 10 times and gained just 133 yards of total offense (41 rushing). Weber State (2-4, 2-2) gained 393 yards – about 150 fewer than what the Bears’ defense averaged.
After struggling to sustain drives in the first quarter, Weber State scored touchdowns on the first play of two consecutive drives – a 32-pass reception by Bryan Eteuati and a 59-yard run by Trevyn Smith, who finished with 119 yards on 24 carries.
Eteuati caught the ball on a deep route with no defender within 5 yards. And Smith ran wide, cut up the field at the sideline and went untouched to the end zone.
The Wildcats led 16-0 at halftime and Eteuati took advantage of a blitz to add a 22-yard touchdown reception on a screen play with 10:13 remaining the game.
Coach Scott Downing dropped to 1-17 in two years at UNC. He said Saturday’s loss wasn’t any harder than the Bears’ previous six this year.
“They all hurt. Let’s be honest about it. We’re 0-7. Everything hurts,” Downing said. “I would be disappointed if our kids and coaches didn’t work their butts off every day, all week long. … We just can’t get a break.”
Weber State, however, committed two turnovers that put UNC in scoring position. The first drive stalled on downs and the latter ended on a missed field goal.
Downing became animated when asked if the coaching staff is putting the players in the best position to win.
“The players believe in our coaches, so no, I’m not disappointed in our offensive staff or defensive staff,” he said. “Our players and coaches have worked hard together. … These kids deserve to win.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
